JACKSON, Mich. — Students who want to enroll at Jackson
Community College this fall must be able to read and write at least at the
seventh-grade level, according to the Jackson Citizen Patriot. Applicants who
fall short of that standard will be referred to alternative adult education
courses, the report said.

The new policy is a change from the more typical community
college practice of accepting anyone with a high school diploma or the
equivalent, the Citizen Patriot reported.

JCC also will limit the courses students can take if their
math skills are below seventh-grade level, as determined by college entrance
examinations or placement test scores, the Citizen Patriot reported.

"We don't want it to be closing the door on someone and
saying they can't be successful," Cindy Allen, JCC spokeswoman, told the
Citizen Patriot. "We're trying to do it because what we have in place now isn't
working. Students (with limited reading, writing and math skills) aren't being
successful."

The college already offers remedial coursework, called
"foundation studies"; a 2009 report showed that 69 percent of students at or
below an eighth-grade reading level passed the remedial course, according to
the Citizen Patriot. Allen said that some students need more help than the
college can provide, the Citizen Patriot reported.